How has the implementation of the new BIM system affected the company’s production and operational efficiency compared to traditional methods? Our services are tailored to align with the company’s actual situation, focusing on income and costs through the following empirical formula:
In this formula:
- A represents labor cost (person/month);
- B is the labor output value (person/month);
- C denotes hardware input costs related to labor tools;
- D stands for software investment costs in labor tools;
- E is the production efficiency lost during the training period (%);
- F indicates the increase in production efficiency after training (%);
- G represents the average additional cost starting from the second year, including software and hardware upgrades and Speedobo services;
- H is the training period (in months);
- N refers to the investment time (in years);
- N also indicates the number of cycles for updating labor tools (typically every 3 years);
- A is the average correction coefficient for the annual sustained growth of A (based on a simulated value of 1.1 for China’s CPI);
- B is the average correction coefficient for the annual continuous growth of F (simulated at 1.18 based on domestic design management experience);
- C is the annual average correction coefficient for continuous growth under conventional CAD work efficiency (simulated at 1.08 based on domestic design management experience).
Within this formula, the return primarily reflects employee production efficiency. The term B × (12N – H) × (1 + F) × B^(N – 1) represents the average annual increase in profit output generated by employees through improved work efficiency and reduced labor costs. The factor (12 × N – H) denotes the effective production cycle (within one year).
Investment mainly includes software and hardware costs, output value lost during training, labor costs, and average annual additional expenses. From our discussions with international counterparts, it is evident that architectural design firms with advanced BIM adoption typically achieve an ROI exceeding 400% on their BIM systems.
Does this mean BIM implementation is impossible without raising design fees? The ROI figures provide a clear theoretical answer.
Architectural firms that must increase design fees to implement BIM often fail to realize reasonable returns on their investment. Consequently, they respond passively by raising fees to cover the increased workload and costs. Conversely, firms that genuinely integrate BIM benefit from substantial improvements in production efficiency, making fee increases unnecessary.
For example, in 2011, hundreds of thousands of square meters of design services were completed without the client even realizing that Guoheng Company used BIM methods to deliver high-quality designs. Naturally, no fee increases were discussed. Yet, the overall project team efficiency improved significantly, reducing both the time and effort required for work and revisions. This resulted in fair returns for both the company and its employees.
Must log in before commenting!
Sign Up